President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his country is determined to destroy what he called a "terror corridor" in northern Syria — regardless of whether or not Türkiye and the United States agree on the establishment of a so-called "safe zone" there. U.S. and Turkish officials have been holding talks on creating a safe zone east of the Euphrates River to address Türkiye's security concerns stemming from the presence of Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region. Türkiye views the Kurdish fighters — who have battled the Islamic State group alongside U.S. forces — as terrorists, allied...
Türkiye in International Media
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he believes Turkish-British ties will flourish under Boris Johnson's term as prime minister. In a message posted on Twitter Tuesday, Erdogan congratulated Johnson who won the campaign for Britain's Conservative Party leadership and is set to replace Theresa May as prime minister. Erdogan wished Johnson success in his new job and added: "I believe that the Türkiye-United Kingdom relations will flourish even more during this new era." Johnson, who has part Turkish ancestry, received a warm welcome in Türkiye in 2016 when he visited as foreign secretary despite the fact that he had...
By Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim KALIN Türkiye’s purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system has recharged a hoary old debate over whether Türkiye is moving away from the West. The accusations against the country range from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s alleged authoritarianism at home to undermining NATO abroad. These charges are baseless. They point to a profound failure of understanding and a deliberate dismissal of Türkiye's legitimate security concerns, the regional dynamics in which it operates and the larger geopolitical realities. The claim that Türkiye ...
Türkiye's vice president says his country is stepping up a search for hydrocarbons off ethnically divided Cyprus with the dispatching of a survey vessel to join two drillships and another research craft operating in waters around the east Mediterranean island nation. Fuat Oktay says Türkiye will "never submit" to sanctions imposed by the European Union over its drilling and won't hesitate to take additional steps in defense of its rights and those of breakaway Turkish Cypriots to the area's energy reserves.
Washington's decision to exclude Türkiye from an American-led fighter jet program goes against the "spirit of alliance," the Turkish government said Thursday, and called on its NATO ally to reverse the decision. In a major break with a longtime ally, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday said Türkiye is being kicked out of the F-35 program because it is buying the Russian S-400 air defense system. The United States says the S-400 would compromise the F-35 program and aid Russian intelligence. In a statement, Türkiye's Foreign Ministry rejected that assertion and said the...
Türkiye will send a fourth ship to the eastern Mediterranean to conduct seismic research for oil and gas around Cyprus, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Tuesday. Türkiye currently has three ships around Cyprus, including two drilling ships. In a tweet, Donmez said the seismic research vessel Oruc Reis would be sent to the Mediterranean after completing its current activities in the Marmara Sea. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen)
U.S. President Donald Trump has the authority to waive sanctions on Türkiye for its purchase of Russian air defence systems and should find a "middle ground" in the dispute, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. Erdogan's comments came two days after NATO member Türkiye took delivery of the first consignment of advanced Russian S-400 missile defence system parts, despite warnings from Washington that the move would trigger U.S. sanctions. Broadcaster Haberturk quoted Erdogan as telling Turkish journalists that Trump "has the authority to waive or postpone CAATSA", referring to U.S. sanctions designed to...
Türkiye has hit back at Greek and EU officials, denying claims it is acting illegally by drilling for gas in waters off Cyprus. The country’s foreign ministry criticised EU condemnation of its efforts to tap the region for potentially lucrative energy resources, saying the bloc could not be considered an impartial mediator for the divided island. In a statement that will cause dismay in Brussels, Ankara vowed to press ahead with offshore exploration to safeguard the rights of Turkish Cypriots to the natural resources. Tensions over hydrocarbons escalated sharply after the discovery of possibly huge gas...
Thousands of people, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attended a commemoration ceremony in Sarajevo on Tuesday before the 24th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the worst mass killing in Europe since World War II. The ceremony in front of the Bosnian presidency building in the capital honored 33 newly identified victims of the July 11-22, 1995 massacre whose remains will be buried at a memorial site near Srebrenica at a formal ceremony on Thursday. More than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in and around the U.N.-protected enclave by Bosnian Serb troops during the civil war in July 1995. Most...